I used to think that being buried (anti-ecological burial) was the primary way of handling the deceased. However, especially after COVID, I have a lot more news on people being cremated, just because there was not enough space or time for people to be buried. I have also found that it is a lot more expensive to have a burial rather than cremation which is why many people are leading towards creating bodies if they cannot afford burials.
Anti-ecological burials and cremation both contribute negatively to the environment and people need to be aware that there are other eco-friendly options for handling the deceased.
One method of cremation is to freeze corpses using liquid nitrogen which then disintegrates the body and does not release green house gases like the traditional way of cremation (burning bodies). Hopefully an increased awareness of this method would decrease the amount of cremations done by burning bodies in the future.
Cremation via liquid nitrogen is so new, it is eco friendly but I am wondering how much it would cost compared to a regular cremation.
Thank you for your insight Sharon! Most of these concepts are foreign to me but some of these possibilities and your suggestions seem to be effective and responsible to both society and the environment.
Hi Sharon,
Thank you for bringing the liquid nitrogen method up, I didn't even know that existed! It would be interesting to see where that process is approved and is being done, it sounds like a more ecologically friendly way of handling cremation
Hi Sharon,
Yes, I think funeral homes should be mandated to share all of the options rather than just the costly ones. There should be more awareness about alternative eco-friendly options regarding death care.
Hi Sharon, thanks for sharing another method of cremation! I absolutely agree that people should be educated about more eco-friendly options and I also hope more actions could be done to reduce the cost of those options.
For the first time, I knew there was a way to dispose of corpses with liquid nitrogen.
Thanks for sharing, I think the disposal of corpses may seem insignificant on the surface, but it is a major problem we are facing now and we need to find the most environmentally friendly way of disposal as soon as possible.
Hi Sharon!
Thank you for sharing this post! I had never heard about using liquid nitrogen as an option for death care but your post pushed me to read more about this topic! I agree that cremation contributes negatively to the environment as it can release greenhouse gases and also uses fossil fuels.
Hi Sharon,
Thank you for bringing up the concept of cremation using liquid nitrogen. I had never before heard of this and think that we definitely need to raise more awareness about options other than anti-ecological burials and traditional cremations!
Hi, Sharon! Thanks for sharing the details about liquid nitrogen cremation! This is something that I did not know about before, and I think this also applies to many other people. Hopefully, in the future, people will be more aware about these alternative options.
Hi Sharon,
I also thought being buried in a casket was the most popular way of death care but am surprised to learn that cremations are more popular. I agree that more awareness needs to be raised about the negative environmental consequences both burials and cremation poses as I was unaware there were any in the first place! Cremating with liquid nitrogen is such an interesting concept and I hope it grows in popularity very soon.
I had no idea that this alternative even existed. Thank you for sharing it Sharon, I feel like lots of people will benefit from knowing there are more options than the traditional cremation as a form of death care.
Hi Sharon, I really liked your alternative idea for cremation, I actually found the concept quite interesting and easily applicable because liquid nitrogen is so cheap. One question i have for you is how does the breakdown of body cells persist once you are frozen? Do you just disintegrate into a fine powder at a certain temp or does the frozen corpse have to be manipulated and broken down via a secondary process?
Me too! I never knew that there was such a sustainable method as aquamation! We should really be advocating for these methods because they're cheaper and more sustainable!
I had no idea that people could be buried in an eco-friendly way, and has thought that the anti-ecological burials were the only way burials were allowed. Burials and cremation are really expensive, which is why so many people tend to go with it, as they want the best for their deceased loved one.
I think that its a great idea to spread awareness about an option that is more environmentally friendly.
Great solution of using liquid nitrogen as an alternative to cremation!
Great post! Using liquid nitrogen sounds like a great way to decrease the amount of impact on the environment.
Nice idea. I agree that anti ecological burial may causes negative affects to the nature, but I think people are also a part of the nature so we should die the same way like other organisms (Didn’t mean die in random places with no carings but like decomposed by micro organisms naturally).
Super! The liquid nitrogen concept is so fascinating, thank you for sharing.
Hi Sharon, I agree that we should find alternative methods to funeral services that are more sustainable and aim to make these the new norms.
I love this post! I agree that anti-ecological burials and cremations do NEGATIVELY contribute to the environment. Therefore we need to implement eco-friendly options and educate others that this is a possibility.